prostitution4

Underage sex, driven by poverty, lures paedophile gringos to a place in the sun

This city, on the north-east coast of Brazil, is rich in culture, and rich with
underage sex. Driven by poverty and lured by the prospect of wealthy gringo
customers, girls as young as 12 prostitute themselves for as little as £2. "But I am
already too old," says Adrianna, a pretty 17-year-old who has been working since
she was 12. "Gringos prefer girls between 10 and 14." Brazil has one of the
world's worst reputations for child prostitution. Salvador has just been visited by
the Juan Miguel Petit, the UN's special rapporteur on child prostitution, child
pornography and trafficking of women and children.
Mr Petit called the Brazilian government's attitude "generally positive", but
added: "There is a sense of resignation, as if these children and adolescents are
genetically predisposed or condemned by fate to be sexually exploited. There
needs to be a bigger effort to realise that these young people can have another,
better life."
Aid workers reckon two million children are sexually exploited in Brazil, but the
lack of data and clandestine nature of the crime render such figures
meaningless. Many involved in the sex trade are European tourists, mainly from
Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, and Latin-Americans. Sidney Alves
Costa, head of the Tourist Ministry cabinet, says: "The first myth that needs to be
dispelled is that only foreigners are involved."
In Brazil, prostitution is legal at 18. There is even a union for sex workers in Rio
de Janeiro. The Brazilian Justice Minister, Marcio Thomaz Bastos, whom Mr Petit
met in Brasilia, has said he wants to make underage prostitution "a residual
problem within two years". To do that, the government would first have to
eliminate the appalling poverty that burdens a third of Brazilians, especially in the
north-east.
Heleni Avila, a social worker who tries to help underage prostitutes, says: "We
are talking about mainly girls, but an increasing number of boys are coming from
the poorest section of society, from dysfunctional families, where drugs and
sexual abuse are common. Some children are abandoned on the streets; others
are sent out by parents and told they can't come home until they have a certain
amount of money."
Salvador has the country's highest proportion of black people, descendants of
slaves brought from West Africa by Portuguese colonists. Ms Avila adds: "Sex
with slaves was common, so our culture is impregnated with a mentality that it is
acceptable to exploit the weak. The girls know foreigners see them as being
more exotic and sensuous because of their colour. Their inequality causes them
a great loss of self-esteem. Prostitution is almost seen as a way of being
appreciated."
Some aid workers believe this image is partly caused by the marketing of Brazil
abroad. Soraya Bastas, president of the Centre for the Defence of Children and
Adolescents (CEDECA), says: "When you see a poster of a Brazilian beach, it
nearly always has a picture of a semi-naked woman. It perpetrates the notion that
Brazilian women are constantly sexually available." Until recently, she adds, travel
agencies in Europe offered sex packages with "hot, mulatto girls".
The government started to tackle sex tourism during the latest carnival season,
when pamphlets warning of the penalties of child sex abuse were distributed in
several languages. Ministers are also negotiating for publicity space.
But a weak and often corrupt police force, and a painfully slow judicial system,
offer impunity to the sex tourists. Last week, a judge in the southern state of
Parana was arrested for paedophilia. Andre Luiz Taques de Macedo is accused of
participating in private parties in which five teenagers aged between 14 and 18
were forced to prostitute themselves.
One of the main difficulties is collecting evidence. Of five cases brought to court
in Salvador this year, one resulted in a guilty verdict, and the rest were dropped
due to lack of evidence, or suspended.
A chronic lack of resources is also hampering any potential crackdown. Waldemar
Oliveira, a lawyer with CEDECA, says: "We need specialised investigators. But the
government says it has no budget for this kind of action. One study shows 10,000
new workers would have to be hired and trained. And the police lack basic
resources such as computers and cars.
Eduardo Pereira, an officer in Salvador's federal police, says sexual tourism falls
under the mandate of the civil or state police. "We give support only when an
international connection is involved."
Last week, a Swiss citizen, Robert Kuhn, was arrested for producing and
distributing child pornography in Porto Seguro, 600 miles south of Salvador. Girls
aged 13 and 14 said he took indecent photographs of them in his home after
school.
He is also suspected of trafficking Brazilian women to Europe. Police found boxes
of flyers for European nightclubs, and airline, bus and train tickets for European
destinations.
The ease with which sex criminals can operate with impunity in Brazil and the lack
of police investigation are demonstrated on the internet. One website, in English
and run by a Robert Charles, shows girls as young as seven in pornographic
poses. Offering deliveries of a CD-rom featuring "the most beautiful photos of
Russian, Asian and Brazilian pre-teens", he tells potential customers:
"Experience shows our plastic boxes are never opened by custom officers". The
business operates from a PO box in Salvador's head post office.